Bottle stopper



y 1961 F. POLLlCK 2,986,297

BOTTLE STOPPER Filed Nov. 17, 1960 42 38 INVENTOR.

FRFINK POLL/CK BY W J HTTORNEY 2,986,291 nomn STOPPER m Polllck, 439Bellevne Ave., Yonkers, N.Y.

Ftled N ov. 17, 1960, Ser. No. 69,902

7 Claims. (Cl. 215-52 This invention relates generallyv to bottlestoppers and more particularly to stoppers for bottles containingliquids, particularly liquids that are confined within the bottle orequivalent container under pressure.

This would betrue, forexample, of carbonated liquids and beer which aremaintained under pressure and which 2,986,297 Patented May 3t),

opens upwardly and hasits upper edge notched its innerside providing anannular ledge or shoulder'22. A slightly curvedcover plate 24 seats onthe, ledge .22 and covers the opening in the head portion. Theperipheral edge of the cover plate 24 may be secured to the ledge byadhesive or in any other suitable'manner. A

A plurality of vents 26 are formed in the center of the will accordinglytravel upwardly through the outlet or neck ofthe bottle so long as thepressure upon the surface of the liquid exceeds atmospheric pressure.

Bottle stoppers of this type are subject to severe strain and are likelyto be blownout of the neck of the bottle or to pop out and furthermoresuch stoppers are difiicult to insert into the opening in the neck ofthe bottle.

Constructions of this type have heretofore been made but suchconstructions with which applicant is aware have not been satisfactory.Some have been complicated and expensive and since the aim is economy,it is evident that an expensive stopper is essentially unsatisfactory.Likewise unsightly stoppers are unsatisfactory. Furthermore, some priorart stoppers have been structurally defective.

It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to providea bottle stopper having automatic means of the bellows type forrelieving the pressure on the stopper.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bottle stopper that willclose small vials or other bottles even though fully loaded.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a bottle stopper thatprovides a perfect seal for the neck of the bottle; that is readilyapplied and removed by hand; that is inexpensive to manufacture; andthat is attractive in appearance.

For further comprehension of the advantages and objects of the inventionreference will be had to the accompanying drawing forming a materialpart of this disclosure, wherein Fig. 1 is a side elevational view ofthe ,top end of a bottle with a bottle stopper embodying one form of theinvention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the bottle stopper per se.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the bottle stopper.

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view thereof.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but showing a modified form of theinvention.

Referring in detail to the drawing, in Fig. 1 a bottle stopper 10 isshown applied to the neck 12 of a bottle 14, such as used for holdingcarbonated liquids, beer and other liquids under pressure. The bottlestopper 10 comprises a hollow elongated cylindrical body 16 formed ofsuitable plastic material or other suitable bottle stopper material. Atone end, the top end as viewed in Fig. 5, the body is formed with anintegral, circular, hollow enlarged or head portion 18, forming ashoulder portion 20 at the bottom of the head portion. The head portioncover plate. The outer peripheral edge of the head portion 18 is knurledas indicated at 28 to providea firm hand grip on the stopper. The hollowbody 16, head portion 18 and cover plate 24 define an interiorchamber30.

In accordance with the present invention, a bellows 32 is positioned inthechamber 30 and is normally disposed centrally and longitudinally -ofthe body .16. The bellows is shown formed of thermoplastic material butmay be formed of alloy steel or other suitable metal The bellows iscomposed of corrugated sections 34 closed at the top 36 and open atthebottom 38. The bottom 3 8 flares downwardly and outwardly as indicatedat40' its extremity shaped in the form of an upturned rim 42 sealed tothe inwardly tapering end edge 44 of the body 16 by heat sealing or inany other suitable manner. In use, the bottle stopper 16 is forced byhand into'the neck 12 of the bottle 14 until its shoulder 20 seats onthe bead 46 of the neck of the bottle so that the body of the stopper isgiven a force fit against the inner surface of the bottle neck as shownin Fig. 1, with the interior of the bellows communicating with theinterior of the bottle. When the gas pressure in the bottle is greaterthan atmospheric pressure, the pressure in the bottle will force thebellows outwardly so that the corrugated sections of the bellows willexpand lineally as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5 against the action ofthe atmospheric pressure exerted through the vents 26. The bellows thusabsorbs the pressure exerted by the gases in the bottle and the stoppercannot be blown out or pop" out of the neck of the bottle. When thestopper is manually removed from the neck of the bottle, the bellowswill collapse to its normal condition thus being reduced by volume anamount equal to the volume of the stopper withdrawn from the neck of thebottle. This makes it easy to seal and uncork the bottle especially whenthe bottle is full or is of very small cubic volume.

The modified form of bottle stopper '10 shown in Fig. 6 diflers from thebottle stopper 10 of Fig. 5 merely in that the enlarged or head portion18' is solid instead of hollow and the cover plate 24 is omitted so thatthe chamber 30 is open to the atmosphere at the top. In all otherrespects, the stopper 10' is similar to stopper 10 and similar referencenumerals are used to indicate similar parts. The stopper 10' functionssimilarly to stopper 10.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of myinvention, it will be understood that changes in details might be madewithout departing from the principle of the invention.

I claim:

1. A bottle stopper comprising an elongated hollow cylindrical bodyportion open at one end and with an enlarged hollow head portion at theother end communicating with the atmosphere, and a bellows device in thebody portion, one end of the bellows device being closed and the otherend being open and being secured to the open end of the body portionwhereby said bellows device is adapted to expand and contract lineallyupon application of gaseous pressure and release of such application,respectively, when the stopper is in sealing position in a bottlecontaining liquid under pressure.

2. A bottle stopper comprising an elongated hollow cylindrical bodyportion open at one end and having an enlarged annular hollow headportion at the other end,

gasses? said head portion opening upwardly, a plate closing the openingin the head portion, said plate having central air vent holes, and abellows device in the body portion, one end of the bellow being closedand the other end open and secured to the open end of the body portionwhereby said'bellows'device is adapt'e 'd to expand and contractlineally upon application' 'of gaseous pressure greater than atmosphericpressure and upon release of such application, respectively, when thestopper is in sealing position in a bottle containing liquid underpressure. 3. A bottle stopper as defined in claim 2 wherein the outerperiphery of the head portion is knilrled to provide afirmhandgrip.

4. A bottle stopper comprising an elongated hollow cylindrical bodyportion open at one end and having an enlarged annular hollow headportion at the other end, defining a shoulder under thelliead' portionadapted to seat upon the top of the neck of a bottle, said head portionopening upwardly, a plate closingthe opening in the head portion, saidplate having central air vent holes, said body, head portion and platedefining a chamber, a bellows device in the body portion ofsaidchamber,one end of the bellows being closed and the other end open and securedto the bottom end edge of the body portion whereby said bellows deviceis adapted to expand and to contract lineally upon application ofgaseous pressure greater than atmospheric pressure and upon release titof such gaseous pressure, respectively, when the stopper 4 is inposition in the neck of a bottle containing liquid under pressure.

5. A bottle stopper as defined in claim 4 wherein the outer periphery ofthe head portion is knurled to provide a firm hand grip.

6. A bottle stopper comprising an elongated tubular cylindrical bodyportion having an annular enlargement at one end defining an annularshoulder under the enlargement adapted to seat'on the top edge of a neckof a bottle, a bellows device in the body portion, one end of thebellows device being closed and the other end being open and secured tothebottorn end edge of the body portion whereby said bellows device isadapted to expand and to contract lineally upon application of gaseouspressure greater than atmospheric pressure and upon release of suchgaseous pressure, respectively, when the stopper is in sealing positionin the neck of a bottle containing liquid under pressure.

7. A bottle stopper asdefined in claim 6 wherein the outer periphery ofthe annular enlargement is knurled to provide a firm hand grip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED sures PATENTS2,634,014 Kimber Apr. -7, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS $3 1,664 Canada Oct. 16,1956

